Exoskeleton robot

ABSTRACT

An exoskeleton robot comprises a waist assembly and a leg assembly. The waist assembly includes a first frame, a plate and a second frame. The first frame includes a rail and a slider inside the rail. The plate is fixed by a first bolt screwed into the slider. The second frame is connected to the plate. The second frame having a slot and a second bolt inside the slot. The leg assembly is installed to the second frame by the second bolt. By loosening the bolts, a user can move the leg assembly in two directions of the rail and the slot without the requirement for detaching the bolts.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/445,940, filed 13 Jan. 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a walking assist device and, more particularly, to an exoskeleton robot.

DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND

An exoskeleton robot, which is also known as powered armor, is a wearable mobile machine that supports the body of a user and move limbs of the user. Generally, an exoskeleton is powered by a system of electric motors, pneumatics, levers, hydraulics, or a combination of technologies that can move limbs. One of the main applications is medical. The exoskeleton robot can help persons who lose or lose control of their legs or arms due to illness or accidental injury.

While the exoskeleton robots are worn by patients in hospitals or rehabilitation centers, the care workers need to adjust the exoskeleton robots to fit patients with a variety of body sizes. Moreover, patients with different injured parts also need different adjustments of the exoskeleton robots.

However, the structures of the traditional exoskeleton robots require the care workers to completely disassembled bolts or screws to adjust sizes of the traditional exoskeleton robots, and thus waste a lot of time and manpower.

Therefore, to save time and manpower, there is a requirement to quickly adjust the exoskeleton robots to fit patients with a variety of body sizes or different injured parts.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an exoskeleton robot comprises a waist assembly and a leg assembly. The waist assembly includes a first frame, a plate and a second frame. The first frame includes a rail and a slider inside the rail. The plate is fixed by a first bolt screwed into the slider. The second frame is connected to the plate. The second frame having a slot and a second bolt inside the slot. The leg assembly is installed to the second frame by the second bolt.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an exoskeleton robot with the slots and the rails to connect two elements, such as frames, assemblies or stands, of the exoskeleton robot, and a relative position of the two elements is adjustable by sliding the slider, the screws or the bolts without fully disengaging the screws or the bolts from the elements. Thus, there are advantages to save effort to adjust the relative position of the elements of the exoskeleton robot to fully meet adjustment requirements, including a waist width, a chest support height, a chest width, a hip depth, a thigh length, a thigh circumference, a shank length, and a shank circumference.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter, and form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures or processes for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present disclosure may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the Figures, where like reference numbers refer to similar elements throughout the Figures, and:

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is noted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exoskeleton robot based on an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a structure to assemble the right leg assembly to the waist assembly in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a structure to assemble the waist assembly in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a structure of the chest assembly and the waist assembly in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a structure to assemble the chest assembly to the back stand and the waist assembly in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 6A-6C are cross-sectional views along Lines B-B, D-D, and E-E of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7A is a front view of the right leg assembly in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the right leg assembly in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8A is an exploded view of the right leg assembly viewed from the right side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8B is an exploded view of the right leg assembly viewed from the left side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9A is an exploded view of the thigh stand viewed from the right side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9B is an exploded view of the thigh stand viewed from the left side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9C is a left side view of the thigh stand in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are cross-sectional views along Lines C-C, and G-G of FIG. 9C.

FIG. 11A is an exploded view of the shank stand viewed from the right side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11B is an exploded view of the shank stand viewed from the left side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11C is a left side view of the shank stand in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view along Line H-H of FIG. 11C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments, or examples, of the disclosure illustrated in the drawings are now described using specific language. It shall be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is hereby intended. Any alteration or modification of the described embodiments, and any further applications of principles described in this document, are to be considered as normally occurring to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure relates. Reference numerals may be repeated throughout the embodiments, but this does not necessarily mean that feature(s) of one embodiment apply to another embodiment, even if they share the same reference numeral.

It shall be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers or sections are not limited by these terms. Rather, these terms are merely used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present inventive concept.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limited to the present inventive concept. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It shall be further understood that the terms “comprises” and “comprising,” when used in this specification, point out the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or groups thereof.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exoskeleton robot 10 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the exoskeleton robot 10 includes a chest assembly 11, a back stand 19, a waist assembly 22, a right leg assembly 12R, and a left leg assembly 12L.

The chest assembly 11 is installed in the back stand 19, and the back stand 19 is installed in the waist assembly 22. Each of the right leg assembly 12R and the left leg assembly 12L is connected to the waist assembly 22 via a respective hip joint 13. Since the right leg assembly 12R and the left leg assembly 12L are symmetric in physical configuration to each other, for convenience, only the right leg assembly 12R is discussed.

The right leg assembly 12R includes a thigh stand 14, a shank stand 16, a knee joint 15, an ankle joint 17, and a shoe assembly 20 in addition to the hip joint 13.

The thigh stand 14, having an elongated shape, is pivotally connected at one end to the waist assembly 22 via the hip joint 13, and pivotally connected at another end to the shank stand 16 via the knee joint 15. As a result, the thigh stand 14 and the shank stand 16 are rotatable with respect to the knee joint 15.

The shank stand 16, also having an elongated shape, is pivotally connected at one end to the thigh stand 14 via the knee joint 15, and pivotally connected at another end to the shoe assembly 20 via the ankle joint 17. As a result, the shank stand 16 and the right shoe assembly 20 are rotatable with respect to the ankle joint 17.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the structure to assemble the right leg assembly 12R to the waist assembly 22 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 2, a side frame 226 includes two horizontal slots 226 a. A hip frame 132 of the right leg assembly 12R is installed in a side frame 226 of the waist assembly 22 by bolts 227 passing through the two horizontal slots 226 a of the side frame 226 and screwed into holes 132 a of the hip frame 132. Further, the slots 226 a include multiple indentations 226 b along the slots 226 a to fit heads of the bolts 227.

By loosening but not detaching the bolts 227 from holes 132 a of the hip frame 132, the user can slide the bolts 227 in the two horizontal slots 226 a to adjust a relative horizontal distance between the right leg assembly 12R and the buttock pad 221 to fit the hip of the user.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the structure to assemble the waist assembly 22 in accordance with sonic embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, the side frame 226 is installed in an install plate 225 by a waist joint 223, and thus the side frame 226 is pivotally connected to the install plate 225. Further, the install plate 225 is installed in the base frame 222 by bolts 224 passing through holes 225 a of the install plate 225 and screwed into sliders 224 a.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the structure of the chest assembly 11 and the waist assembly 22 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the base frame 222 includes two rails 228, and each of the rails 228 includes two expanded sections 228 a. The sliders 224 a are put into the rails 228 of the base frame 222 through expanded sections 228 a of the rails 228, and then the expanded sections 228 a can be covered by a rail cover 196 of the back stand 19. The rails 228 are horizontal and allow the sliders 224 a moving horizontally.

The back stand 19 is installed in the waist assembly 22 by bolting the rail cover 196 in the base frame 222 of the waist assembly 22. The sliders 224 a can be moved along the rails 228. Therefore, by loosening but not detaching the bolts 224 from the sliders 224 a, the user can slide the sliders 224 a in the rails 228 to adjust a relative horizontal distance between the side frames 226, and the waist assembly 22 can be configured to fit and support a user of the exoskeleton robot 10 at the waist and the hip.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the structure to assemble the chest assembly 11 to the back stand 19 and the waist assembly 22 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, the chest assembly 11 is installed in the back stand 19 by a bolt 114 passing through a hole 113 of the center part 112 a of a center frame 112 of the chest assembly 11, and screwed into a slider 114 a in a rail 198. The slider 114 a is inside the rail 198 of the back frame 192 of the back stand 19 and can be moved along the rail 198. Thus, by loosening but not detaching the bolt 114 from the slider 114 a, the user can slide the slider 114 a in the rails 198 to adjust a vertical height of the chest assembly 11.

Further, the chest boards 116 are installed in wings 112 b of the center frame 112 by screwing bolts 117 through sliders 117 a, rails 118 of the wings 112 b of the center frame 112, slots 116 a of the chest boards 116, and slot covers 117 b. Because the sliders 117 a engage with the slots 116 a, and thus the position of the sliders 117 a in the rails 118 can be slid to adjust a relative horizontal distance between side boards 116 b of the chest boards 116 by loosening but not detaching the bolts 117 from the sliders 117 a. Therefore, the chest assembly 11 can be configured to fit and support a user of the exoskeleton robot 10 at the chest.

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view along Line B-B of FIG. 4. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6A, the bolt 114 passes through the hole 113 of the center part 112 a, the rail 198, and the slider 114 a. The cross-section of the rail 198 is a groove with two steps in two sides to contain the slider 114 a and prevent the slider 114 a from being pulled out of the rail 198.

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view along Line D-D of FIG. 4. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6B, the bolts 117 passes through the sliders 117 a, rails 118 of the wings 112 b, the slots 116 a of the chest boards 116, and the slot covers 117 b. The cross-section of the rail 118 is a groove with two steps in two sides to contain the slider 117 a and prevent the slider 117 a from being pulled out of the rail 118.

FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view along Line E-E of FIG. 4. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6C, bolts 224 are screwed into the sliders 224 a, and the install plate 225. The sliders 224 a are inside the rails 228. The cross-section of the rail 228 is a groove with two steps in two sides to contain the slider 224 a and prevent the slider 224 a from being pulled out of the rail 228.

FIG. 7A is a front view of the right leg assembly 12R in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the right leg assembly 12R in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8A is an exploded view of the right leg assembly 12R viewed from the right side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 8B is an exploded view of the right leg assembly 12R viewed from the left side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9A is an exploded view of the thigh stand 14 viewed from the right side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 9B is an exploded view of the thigh stand 14 viewed from the left side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the thigh stand 14 includes an upper thigh stand 14 a and a lower thigh stand 14 b.

The upper thigh stand 14 a is pivotally connected to the hip joint 13, and has two holes 144 a, a vertical rail 148, and a slider 144 b inside the vertical rail 148. The lower thigh stand 14 b is pivotally connected to the knee joint 15, and has a hole 144 a, two vertical rails 148, and two sliders 144 b inside the vertical rails 148.

Three bolts 144 pass through the three holes 144 a and the three sliders 144 b inside the three vertical rails 148. Therefore, the upper thigh stand 14 a and the lower thigh stand 14 b are connected through three sliders 144 b in three vertical rails 148, and can be moved from each other along the three vertical rails 148 by loosening but not detaching the bolts 144 from the sliders 144 b to extend or contract the thigh stand 14 so that the length of the thigh stand 14 is adjustable to fit the thigh length of the user.

The vertical rail 148 of the upper thigh stand 14 a and the first vertical rail 148 of the lower thigh stand 14 b include expanded sections 148 a to put the sliders 144 b inside the vertical rails 148. The second vertical rail 148 of the lower thigh stand 14 b includes an open end 148 b to put the slider 144 b inside the second vertical rail 148.

Further, a slider 612 can be put into a vertical rail 149 of the lower thigh stand 14 b through the open end 149 a of the vertical rail 149. A shield 61 can engage the rail 149 through the slider 612. The bolts 614 pass through the shield 61 and are screwed into the slider 612 inside the vertical rails 149. Therefore, the shield 61 and the lower thigh stand 14 b are connected through the slider 612 in the vertical rail 149. By loosening but not detaching the bolts 614 from the slider 612, the shield 61 can be moved along the vertical rail 149 of the lower thigh stand 14 b so that the position of the shield 61 is adjustable to fit the need of the user.

Moreover, a slider 622 can be put into the vertical rail 149 of the lower thigh stand 14 b through the open end 149 a of the vertical rail 149, too. A thigh support 62 can engage the rail 149 through the slider 622. The bolts 624 pass through horizontal slots 62 a of the thigh support 62 and are screwed into the slider 622 inside the vertical rails 149. Therefore, the thigh support 62 and the lower thigh stand 14 b are connected through the slider 622 in the vertical rail 149. By loosening but not detaching the bolts 624 from the slider 622, the thigh support 62 can be moved along the vertical rail 149 or the horizontal slots 62 a so that the position of the thigh support 62 is adjustable vertically and horizontally to fit the need of the user.

FIG. 9C is a left side view of the thigh stand 14 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view along Line C-C of FIG. 9C. Referring to FIG. 10A, the bolt 144 passes through the hole 144 a of the lower thigh stand 14 b, and is screwed into the slider 144 b inside the rail 148. The cross-section of the rail 148 is a groove with two steps in two sides to contain the slider 144 b and prevent the slider 144 b from being pulled out of the rail 148.

FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view along Line G-G of FIG. 9C. Referring to FIG. 10B, the bolt 614 passes through the shield 61, and is screwed into the slider 612 inside the rail 149. The cross-section of the rail 149 is a groove with two steps in two sides to contain the slider 612 and prevent the slider 612 from being pulled out of the rail 149.

FIG. 11A is an exploded view of the shank stand 16 viewed from the right side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 11B is an exploded view of the shank stand 16 viewed from the left side in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B, the shank stand 16 includes an upper shank stand 16 a and a lower shank stand 16 b. The upper shank stand 16 a includes a center space to contain the lower shank stand 16 b.

The upper shank stand 16 a is pivotally connected to the knee joint 15, and has two holes 164 b. The lower shank stand 16 b is pivotally connected to the ankle joint 17, and has a vertical rail 168, and a slider 164 a inside the vertical rail 168.

Two bolts 164 pass through the slider 164 a inside the vertical rail 168 and are screwed into the holes 164 b. Therefore, the upper shank stand 16 a and the lower shank stand 16 b are connected through the slider 164 a in the vertical rails 168. By loosening but not detaching the bolts 164 from the slider 164 a, the upper shank stand 16 a and the lower shank stand 16 b can be moved from each other along the vertical rails 168 to extend or contract the shank stand 16 so that the length of the shank stand 16 is adjustable to fit the shank length of the user.

Moreover, a shank support 64 can engage the upper shank stand 16 a. The bolts 624 pass through horizontal slots 644 a of the shank support 64 and are screwed into holes 644 b of the upper shank stand 16 a. Therefore, the shank support 64 fixed in the upper shank stand 16 a, and the shank support 64 can be moved with the upper shank stand 16 a along the vertical rail 168 of the lower shank stand 16 b so that the position of the shank support 64 is adjustable to fit the need of the user. By loosening but not detaching the bolts 644 from the holes 644 b of the upper shank stand 16 a, the shank support 64 can be adjusted forward and backward along the horizontal slots 644 a.

FIG. 11C is a left side view of the shank stand 16 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view along Line H-H of FIG. 11C. Referring to FIGS. 11C and 12, the bolt 164 passes through the slider 164 a inside the rail 168, and is screwed into the hole 164 b. The cross-section of the rail 168 is a groove with two steps in two sides to contain the slider 164 a and prevent the slider 164 a from being pulled out of the rail 168.

Based on some embodiments of the disclosure, by using the slots and the rails to connect two elements, such as frames, assemblies or stands, of the exoskeleton robot, a relative position of the two elements is adjustable by sliding the slider, the screws or the bolts without fully disengaging the screws or the bolts from the elements. Thus, there are advantages to save effort to adjust the relative position of the elements of the exoskeleton robot to fully meet adjustment requirements, including a chest width, a hip depth, a thigh length, a thigh circumference, a shank length, and a shank circumference.

Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, many of the processes discussed above can be implemented in different methodologies and replaced by other processes, or a combination thereof.

Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An exoskeleton robot, comprising: a waist assembly including: a first frame including a rail and a slider inside the rail, a plate fixed by a first bolt screwed into the slider, and a second frame connected to the plate, wherein the second frame having a slot and a second bolt inside the slot; and a leg assembly installed to the second frame by the second bolt.
 2. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, wherein the second frame is connected to the plate through a joint, and the second frame is pivotally connected to the plate.
 3. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, wherein the rail includes an expanded section to allow the slider put into the rail through the expanded section.
 4. The exoskeleton robot of claim 3, further comprising a back stand to install a chest assembly wherein the back stand includes a rail cover installed on the expanded section and covering the expanded section.
 5. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, further comprising a back stand with a second rail and a second slider inside the second rail, wherein the second rail is vertical and allows the second slider moving vertically; a chest assembly installed in the back stand by a bolt screwed into the slider.
 6. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, wherein the leg assembly comprises a thigh stand, a knee joint, and a shank stand connected to the thigh stand with the knee joint.
 7. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, wherein the rail is horizontal and allows the slider moving horizontally.
 8. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, wherein the slot is horizontal and allows the second bolt moving horizontally.
 9. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, wherein the first frame includes another slider inside the rail.
 10. The exoskeleton robot of claim 1, wherein the slot includes multiple indentations along the slot to fit a head of the second bolt.
 11. An exoskeleton robot, comprising: a waist assembly; a back stand installed in the waist assembly, wherein the back stand includes a first rail and a first slider inside the first rail; and a chest assembly including: a center frame fixed by a first bolt screwed into the first slider, wherein the center frame includes two wings, each of the two wings has a second rail and a second slider inside the second rail, and two chest boards, each of which is fixed by a second bolt screwed into the second slider.
 12. The exoskeleton robot of claim 11, wherein the first rail is vertical and allows the first slider moving vertically.
 13. The exoskeleton robot of claim 11, wherein the second rail is horizontal and allows the second slider moving horizontally.
 14. An exoskeleton robot, comprising a leg assembly including: a hip joint; and a thigh stand including: an upper thigh stand connected to the hip joint, including a first hole, a first rail and a first slider inside the first rail wherein the first rail is vertical and allows the first slider moving vertically, a lower thigh stand including a second hole, a second rail, and a second slider inside the second rail wherein the second rail is vertical and allows the second slider moving vertically, a first bolt passing through the first hole and screwed into the second slider, and a second bolt passing through the second hole and screwed into the first slider.
 15. The exoskeleton robot of claim 14, further comprising: a knee joint connected to the lower thigh stand; and a shank stand including: a lower shank stand including a third rail and a third slider inside the third rail wherein the third rail is vertical and allows the third slider moving vertically, and an upper shank stand connected to the knee joint and fixed by a third bolt screwed into the third rail.
 16. The exoskeleton robot of claim 14, wherein the lower thigh stand includes: a thigh support with a slot and a fourth bolt; and a fourth rail with a fourth slider inside the fourth rail, wherein the fourth rail is vertical and allows the fourth slider moving along the fourth rail vertically, wherein the fourth bolt passes through the thigh support and screwed into the fourth slider.
 17. The exoskeleton robot of claim 16, wherein the slot is horizontal and allows the fourth bolt moving along the slot horizontally.
 18. The exoskeleton robot of claim 16, wherein the lower thigh stand includes: a shield; and a fifth slider inside the fourth rail, wherein the fourth rail allows the fifth slider moving along the fourth rail vertically, wherein the fifth bolt passes through the shield and screwed into the fifth slider
 19. The exoskeleton robot of claim 15, wherein the shank stand includes a shank support installed in the upper shank stand.
 20. The exoskeleton robot of claim 15, wherein the upper shank stand includes a center space to contain the lower shank stand. 